Naruto, Mr Ramen
by eryxl
Summary: Naruto meets the love of his life, and her name is Miso Ramen. Crack!fic.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto, Mr. Ramen

In the dimly lit recesses of a basement, a shinobi sat cross-legged on the floor as he concentrated on a circle drawn on the stone. Candles were on that drawn chalk mark and flickered due to the slight draft, illuminating the lower half of the man's face. The corners of his mouth slid upward in a satisfied smirk for a moment before he grit his teeth as he focused.

He should have known that it was never a good idea to attempt an original jutsu when staving off pangs of hunger. As much as he tried to ignore his hunger and stare at the statue he'd created in front of him, he kept thinking about the instant ramen he had on the kitchen counter. The first taste of that thick, nutty broth and those chewy noodles -

A pulse of orange chakra left him the next second and travelled upstairs, searching for its destination. The orange glow seized the instant ramen bowl, and began to expand three times its size.

The Miso Ramen bowl sprouted legs and hopped off the counter.

####

Naruto leaned back against the wall, lying on his bed and clutching his growling stomach. He was so hungry! There was nothing to eat in his small apartment and he was exhausted from all the training he had done today. Time to go to Ramen Ichiraku. He still had money from his pay and so he wasted no time in springing from his bed and leaving the apartment in a rush.

One minute of jumping was all it took before Naruto became too hungry to exert himself so much anymore. In fact, he was almost too hungry to notice the soft footfalls behind him. Almost.

"Who's there?" he asked as he turned around with a kunai at the ready. The knife dropped from his hand. His eyes widened.

In front of him was the strangest person he had ever seen. A girl stood there, somewhat shorter than him with wild, tangled, and bright orange hair and mustard colored eyes, along with an orange dress labelled 'Miso Ramen' dress that fell to her knees. A few seconds passed before he realized this girl smelled like bean paste and pepper.

She moved towards him, her somewhat stocky frame casting a shadow on the dirt road. Her nostrils flared for a moment as if she was smelling him. That was just weird, wasn't it? "Miso Ramen," said the girl matter-of-factly.

Naruto blinked. That was not a name, that was food, and food that he happened to crave right now. "That's a weird name." Focus. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm going to Ichiraku's right now! They have the best ramen there. So delicious…" He rubbed his stomach in anticipation.

His words caused her eyes to shine a dangerous flash, but she shone a smile instead and confused him. "You don't need to go anywhere." Before he had a chance to ask, Miso grabbed a barrel that had gathered rainwater after a recent storm and started to drink it without stopping. Naruto gaped as he saw this unusual person doing this and wondered what would happen next. Seconds passed and she set the barrel on the ground.

She formed a few seals and said, "_Warm Spicy Broth_!" At once, she emitted warm, slightly fiery chakra and he smelled the same pepper and spice as before. Then, to his shock, the girl started to transform into a ramen shaped bowl although she kept her arms and legs.

More seals flashed. "_Bubbling Brew Flame_!" Her head had enlargened and rounded to reveal the top of the bowl; the insides appeared to be ramen ingredients more and more by the second and the water started to bubble.

The scent now intoxicated him and he tried to ignore it. Impossible. A smile crossed her face, which was now the front of the dish facing him. "I am definitely tastier," she said, which looked odd coming from a ramen bowl.

Naruto could not deny the appeal of the largest bowl of ramen he had ever seen and liked anything to do with free food. His stomach won over his brain (as it often did) and he withdrew his pair of chopsticks to rush over to Miso Ramen. He started to stuff his face, not even wondering about whether or not he was eating her insides. The temperature of the broth was perfect and he ate three quarters of the ramen before he was full and somewhat dizzy. Best ramen of his life! Concern prickled at the back of his mind. "I didn't eat your legs or arms, right? I don't eat people." He made a face at that thought.

"No." Miso Ramen began to change into her human form, paler than normal, which was difficult to see in the evening light. "I just need to replenish my chakra by eating vegetables and drinking water." Typical ramen ingredients, of course.

Naruto grinned in relief. "Ohhh. You really were good! Thanks!" His voice became quieter then as he drifted into thought for a moment. With an ability like that, he'd never go hungry again.

Since Naruto had his fill, Miso stretched and glanced around as if she searched for excitement. "Come on, follow me!" her voice was so enthusiastic that he had no choice but to run after her when she darted down the road. He had never had so much fun with a bowl of ramen in his life.

They ran and jumped around down, on various buildings and down the street, taking pleasure in their freedom. At last it was late and Naruto needed to be up in the morning for training and missions anyway.

"I don't have anywhere to stay," Miso stated. "I want to stay with you!"

He had no problem with that. "All right. But I want to eat you for breakfast." So it was a deal.

Naruto and Miso were tired for different reasons, so they collapsed – Naruto on the bed, Miso on the sofa. They slept so soundly that they failed to hear the pounding on the door right away. Naruto returned to consciousness after a minute and then went to the door in his shirt and boxers.

Sakura stood there with the angry expression she often had before punching him. "Good morning, Sakura-chan!" he said.

"It's time to go!" Sakura told him and just glowered at him instead of the punching he expected.

"Where are you going?" the slightly husky voice of Miso appeared behind him. Sakura just stared.

"Training and a mission!" answered Naruto.

"Wonderful! I want to see you in action! Also you might become hungry and I can give you something to eat." Miso was nothing but excitement and confidence despite facing Sakura's stare.

Naruto grinned in agreement and looked at his teammate. "Just wait a minute, Sakura-chan. I'll get dressed now." Naruto disappeared back to his bedroom and Miso waited in the doorway, humming. She still failed to see if Sakura was angry or shocked.

Really, she was deep in thought. "Have you ever eaten a frozen banana covered in chocolate? I think I'll try one today. I like spicer food mostly, but today will be the exception." Sakura growled, or made a similar sound in the back of her throat.

Miso giggled, amused by the odd sound. She could do odd noises as well. To prove it, she trumpeted like an elephant. Just when Sakura took a step back out of disgust, Naruto returned and announced that they should go now. Miso copied Naruto's spirited determination and rushed off by his side. Naruto thought that he heard Sakura sigh behind him, but he decided it was only the wind.

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A/N: Inspired by GoXC and her Naruto in the fic Qualities. Check it out!


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto, Mr. Ramen

[2/?]

Miso, Naruto and Sakura walked over to the Hokage building, where Sakura declared that non-shinobis were not allowed to enter and anyway, they had a meeting. With a cheerful nod of Miso's head that Sakura found irritating, the ramen bowl-turned-human waited for Naruto to be finished with the briefing.

"I'll be done in a minute, Miso-chan!" Naruto told Miso before he went inside, which only made her happier. The two ninja of Team 7 moved towards Tsunade's office and Sakura punched Naruto's shoulder just for good measure. He didn't even do anything wrong, Naruto thought and rubbed the sore spot with a knitted brow.

As it happened, the mission was a simple escourt. The man had travelled to Konoha and now he wanted to visit his relatives in a village a few days away. The trek stretched across mountains and the client was an old man, so he worried about his safety crossing them. It would take around a week, and Sakura and Naruto needed to pack their supplies before they left the village.

Naruto left the building and told Miso Ramen to meet them at the gate of Konoha so he could say goodbye to her. Sakura glared at him, but that was nothing new. Six minutes later (he was a fast and light packer), he rushed to the gate to leave the village and saw Miso standing there.

She smiled at him and he returned it with a large one of his own. That was nice, Naruto thought idly. He did not have time to think about much else because Miso started to talk quickly and energetically. "So what is this mission? Are you allowed to tell me or is that a shinobi secret? I hope the weather will be good for traveling. I saw a cloud shaped like a carrot and that's supposed to be a good sign."

Carrot clouds were something he had never heard or considered being lucky, but he would take her word for it. "Thanks, but I don't need any luck!" he said with a grin. "I will handle the rest, no problem." Miso laughed at his confidence.

Two minutes later, Sakura and Rinagumi, their client, walked towards them and soon they were on their way. Naruto had a slightly energetic spring to his step as he moved, thinking that this was going to be easy and then he could continue to more important matters. Time was of the essence here.

Then he happened to hear humming. The humming morphed into singing, a song about salt falling in love with pepper. Huh? Naruto turned around to see Miso skipping along behind them.

"Hi, Naruto!" she called as they met each other's gaze. She failed to see the reason behind the confusion on his face because she assumed he remembered what she had said to him.

Sakura, on the other hand, hit the nail right on the head. "Why are you following us, and who are you?" She never actually got her name when she had discovered Miso at Naruto's apartment. Really, that shirt was so short, what on earth was that girl doing? Didn't Naruto notice? No, he only had eyes for Sakura. That thought was an ego boost, and no doubt about its selfishness, but Sakura had come to rely on him much more now than she had in the past.

Introductions were boring but necessary and so the ramen girl got them over as quickly as possible. "I'm Miso Ramen," she said. "I will be here just in case Naruto gets hungry and wants to eat me because he's the best Ramen fan ever." She flashed a cheerful smile at Naruto, who nodded and grinned in agreement.

"That's right! She tastes really good. I can't wait until lunch." Naruto knew that there was a while until lunch and there was still a client to worry about, so he tried his best to make sure the old man was fine. "Just tell me when you get tired so we can rest, all right, grandpa?" He directed his question towards Rinagumi.

A wrinkled smile crossed the old man's face. "I am still well. Thank you, young man." His voice was husky, almost dry as if he'd lost his voice and it had not returned. He was a short, thin man with white hair cropped close to his scalp, and cragged fingers clutched a cane. Naruto could see why he needed the help if Rinagumi was only able to move about the speed of an enraged turtle. He was almost tempted to carry the old man on his back just so they were able to move at a faster pace, and so he could get back to the important business of bringing Sasuke back to the village.

Miso seemed to notice that he was deep in thought, because not a minute later, she broke his thoughts by exclaiming and tugging on his elbow. "There are people coming towards us! Are they dangerous?" she wondered.

Naruto peered up the path as well as he could and thought that he recognized them. His guess proved to be correct when a green-clad ninja stopped in front of them with a pale, dark-haired one by his side. "Bushy Brows! Sai!" he greeted. "How was your mission?"

Lee grinned and gave a prominent thumbs-up. "A complete success, Naruto-kun!" His gaze focused on Sakura and the older man. "Good morning, Sakura-san and honored elder. I hope you are well on a fine day like this."

Sakura nodded ever so slightly. "Yes, we are. Everyone's so busy now with all that's going o-" She would have said more, except Miso gasped with excitement as she approached Lee to pinch the green spandex off his arm.

Clothing that stuck so closely to the skin and that shade amazed her, and Miso could only come to one conclusion after hearing the fabric snap back to Lee's skin. "You're like a vegetable," she stated. "Broccoli!" Her observation was not so original – it made Lee's left eye twitch – but Naruto had not heard this before and laughed before he could help it. Before Lee could attempt to find a polite reason to go back to Konoha right away and avoid this strange woman, Miso turned her attention to Sai.

She poked his stomach. "Mushroom." Sai blinked. He stared at her. Naruto repressed snorts of laughter as Sai looked down at himself and struggled to see how his slim form was the catalyst for such a strange nickname.

"Are you attempting to be humorous?" he asked, just in case there was a joke he failed to understand. Miso continued to look at him with wide mustard-colored eyes and he supposed that she did not have enough brain cells to rub together in order to form a joke. "I'll see you later." He directed this at Naruto and Sakura, hoping he'd never have to see the other woman again, and walked past them back to the village.

Naruto said his farewells to him and Lee, who excused himself to catch up on training and to say hello to his sensei. The four of them continued to walk and somehow Miso was walking closer to him than she had been a little while ago. She smelled like ramen, so he had no problem with that.

All in all, the escourt mission transpired without incident. Rinagumi thanked them for getting him safely to his relatives and so the Leaf ninjas along with Miso Ramen were able to head back to Konoha.

Naruto loved the fact that he had a new friend and the largest bowl of ramen on hand, while Sakura just thought it was creepy every time Miso transformed into her ramen form. Miso needed to drink large bottles of water constantly in order to sustain Naruto's voracious appetite and the sound distracted Sakura to no end.

The more he remained in close proximity to Miso, the more Naruto relaxed. He saw her as comfort and food rolled into one and thought nothing of her holding his arm or pushing him playfully. A tiny voice in the back of his mind told him that these kinds of touches were inappropriate and too intimate, but Naruto never had too much physical affection in his life.

One night, he awoke to find that he and Miso edged closer together while they were sleeping and he had draped an arm over her. The warmth of her body was entrancing and so comfortable, like sleeping next to a gentle heater. Trouble was, that morning, Miso was the outer spoon and Naruto woke to feel the sensation of her chest pressing against his back. He yelped and scrambled away to the bushes some distance from their campsite before he had much time to think about what had just happened.

After that, though, Naruto got a funny feeling in his stomach when he glanced at her as they jumped on tree branches. He hoped he wasn't getting sick.

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	3. Chapter 3

Naruto, Mr. Ramen

[3/3]

When Naruto and the others returned to Konoha, he thought that the weird feelings he'd had the other day would go away, though he hadn't given them much thought since he woke up that morning. Being in the Hidden Village again relaxed him, though, and he itched for any news on Sasuke's whereabouts. As soon as he heard something, he would head out there as soon as possible.

Days passed. He heard nothing. Part of him wanted to cast caution to the wind and just leave the village to go looking. So that afternoon, three days later, he went to ask Tsunade – announce, rather – that he was leaving.

That went worse than he expected. "Absolutely not!" Tsunade exclaimed. "The risk is too great and we need more information before any plan is implemented." If he was to go all, she wanted him to be somewhat more prepared than that, and baring that she'd be able to keep him from going at all.

Large disappointment now. He clenched his fists so hard that his nails pressed into his palms and he headed down the street, dejected.

To his surprise (although he shouldn't really be surprised), Miso appeared from an alley or somewhere to join his side. Naruto looked at her and gave a much weaker greeting than usual. First the weirdness on the mission and now this. He didn't know what to say for a moment or two. She did not have that problem at all.

"One day at a time," she said. She must have done some sort of jutsu because he could smell the scent of ramen broth drifting from her and it lifted his spirits without him realizing it. He inclined his head, oddly reassured by her words, but slid his hands into his pockets.

His action gave her the perfect opportunity to hold onto the crook of his arm. His stomach flip-flopped and Naruto wondered if what they were doing was too intimate because they did not know each other very well. The amount of physical affection in his life was severely lacking and he wanted to enjoy this while he could. 

They walked down the street, his hesitancy disappearing and hope rising with each step. Miso Ramen was by his side, a constant comfort, to which Naruto clung with all his might.

He'd been known for his love for ramen, defined by it almost as much as his desire to become Hokage. Then again, that was not necessarily something bad.

Every night, his apartment contained the warm, earthy smells of ramen. He smiled each time he opened the door. It was not long before his apartment truly became his home, with Miso Ramen its core.

END

A/N: We all need some fluff once in a while, in my opinion.


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